Here is the rotating element that is going to enable the rotation of the solar panels around the center axle.

Once again it was my friend Pierre who did help to obtain the cylindrical part using teflon as the basis: it is very strong and more important it can rotate with minimal friction.

The plastic support and the teflon cylindrical piece obtained with the lathe

Here the cylindrical part is positioned inside the lower support

Here it is shown as it’s going to be positioned on the supports on the frame

Since the central axle has a square shape, the teflon rotating part will need to be machined to obtain a square shape as well.

Example of the square shape to be obtained

the rotating part on the milling machine to obtain the inner square shape

I started to work on the central support on the bike frame.

The main challenges were:

to try to position it as forward as possible

with a ’round’ shape to allow the rotation of the solar panels

to avoid interference with the cyclists’s helmet

Here I am testing the distance between the support and my helmet

here the process to bend the aluminium support progressively….

…until it gets the rounded shape!

This is the final result: it is funny because it looks like a HEART!

seen from the front side

The final shape is tested for interference with my helmet…

Once positioned the central support it was easier to start to build the rear support and finally the front one. This is because the height of the central support was already determined and the others should have been positioned with same height from the ground: 117cm.

Here with the central axle to determine the exact position of the other 2 supports

The bike with the added rear support: note also all the structure which is necessary to raise the rear support

here it is the view from the back

….and here from the front right

Finally also the front support is positioned: here I am testing that the central axle is perfectly horizontal

This is a detail of the front support

Concerning solar panels there are 2 main changes:

after all the experiences in the last couple of years and having seen all other SunTrip solar bikes I decided to use in 2019 more powerful solar panels for a total of 300W.

After several experiments I have also decided to start using a “tilting approach” also for the solar panels: in fact in my previous tests (check this video on the right) I could prove that with this solution in certain conditions the marginal gain could be of 70% and more!

For those reasons I have used a new supplier (“Link Solar”) who was able to develop 2 solar panels with exactly the dimensions I needed: 6×8 cells, 150W and a size of 1070x800mm

Here below some of the main details concerning the solar panels solution

Here are the new solar panels just delivered, with a perfect packaging

Here are the technical characteristics

The weight of each panel is 2,3kg

Very good manufacturing quality: there is also a serial number!

First tests gave a total of 64,8 Volts (unloaded). Not bad for a winter day!

Here it is the test on the Current: 4,33 Amps (unloaded).

Here as a visual reference from the right: 140W in 2017, then 200W in 2018 and 300W for 2019!

Here we can see the different parts: 2 thin film solar panels, 2 aluminium sheets (0,8mm thickness) and a large foam sheet for vibration dampening. Total weight including aluminium frame = 9.5kg

This is the final result: the new Solar Tilting Trike with…Tilting panels!

This Post Has 4 Comments

Dinesh

daniele g

Hi, I definitely agree with your comment! This is exactly what I am planning for the next steps of my project. But before starting I need to consolidate the development and testing of the 2019 trike: ideally I would like to start to design the “velomobile” version by the end of this year.

Dinesh

daniele g

Hi Dinesh, thanks for your question. the solar panels can tilt on the RIGHT and on the LEFT, there is no possibility to lean FORWARD or BACKWARD.
This is not an issue for me even considering that from an aerodynamic point of view it wouldn’t work.
I will add more picture in my next post with details on how the solar panels can tilt.